About DRThomas

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Male

Currently Lives:

Citizen Of:

United States

Some Forum Posts:

Costa Rica: Billed USD $15,481 for Nine Days Hospital Stay, What Happened?:

I lived in CR for around 6.5 years, and I heard similar stories. A fall that injured a knee turned into an infection that led to a bill of about USD$17,000 at a very well known hospital in San José. The patient and his adult offspring refused to pay (refused, not couldn't) so the bill was passed to the co-signer, the owner of the B&B where he had been staying. I live in Guatemala now, and the same stories still come to my attention there.

Guatemala: Items to take:

An electric blanket may come in handy if you live in the Highlands (Xela, Antigua). If you buy one and have it sent down by mail or courrier, it will cost big bucks,. Good luck finding one in Guatemala.

Costa Rica: "Border Run" ideas?:

A simple one is to take a bus to San Carlos (Nicaragua), just beyond Los Chiles. If you feel adventurous, from San Carlos you can go down the river and spend a night or two at San Juan del Norte. Not a while lot there. The early morning launch going back to San Carlos is a special treat, It is a beautiful ride in jungle drenched in mist for mile after mile. Or you go from San Carlos downsteam to El Castillo. Great food at the hard-to-fine Border;s Coffee and plenty of peace and quiet. San Carlos does not have a whole lot working for it, so I would not recommend a long stay there.

Guatemala: Martial Arts in Guate City:

Yesterday I saw a sign for an Aikido school in La Aurora. Just as you turn left to enter the airport, the sign is to your right and maybe 20' off the ground. The "A" is stylized and may take a moment to realize it is an "A" and not just a design of some kind.

Guatemala: Lake Atilan visit:

Antigua is about 2.5 hours from the Lake and 1.0 hour from Guatemala. (Heavy traffic can stretch that out a bit.)

Guatemala: Apartment for a month, Quetzaltenango?:

I would like the same for the first two weeks of November.

Costa Rica: thumbs up, thumbs down, report abuse:

If we correct a wise man, we make him wiser. If we correct a fool, we make an enemy.

Costa Rica: Recent Murder Stats:

Murders, car burglaries, drugs... Costa Ricans tyically blame crime on foreigners. When you tell them the suspects were identified as Costa Ricas, they tell you that surely they were influenced by their foreigner friends. A student from UCR told me a few years ago that in a study conducted by the UCR statistics show otherwise: almost all crimes committed in Costa Rica are committed by Costa Ricans. Regardless of the nationality of your killer, you are still dead.

Costa Rica: TOURIST VISA EXTENSION:

In Costa Rica, can a tourist visa be extended without a border run,? (I am currently in CR on a tourist visa, but I have a permanent residency in Guatemala where a tourist visa can be extended the first tme through an immigration attorney for about USD65.)

Guatemala: Quetzaltenango?:

I will be following your post with great interest. --- You will agree with me, I am sure, that we need to take a good inventory of what we like and do not like, need and do not need, what is important to us and what is not important. Wherever we go, we must adapt to new ways of living. --- I have lived in La Antigua for about 2.5 years, and I am ready for some changes. I will not miss Antigua's cobblestoned streets. They are difficult to walk on even for goats. The narrow, crowded, uneven, and often broken sidewalks are no picnic either. I am an old fart with a cane, and I need a break. Xela is a far better place for walking than Antigua. I love movies. The nearest cinema to Antigua is in Chimaltenango (30 minutes), followed by Guatemala City (about 90 minutes by chicken bus, it take a while just to get out of the city). Xela has nice movies at La Pradera. The nearest Walmart to Antigua is in San Lucas, about 20 minutes away. Xela has that beat too with a store of its own. There is not a decent supermarket in Antigua, the nearest being in Chimaltenango and San Lucas. (We can cross out Chimaltenango, frankly.) Xela has at least three top-notch ones. Antigua is at the southern edge of the Highlands, and Xela is surrounded by Highland villages. San Francisco El Alto, for example, has a superb market! And let us not overlook the huge market in Xela. The textiles are fantastic! As I remember, taxis in Xela charge about 1/3 the Antigua rate. Antigua has great cultural activites, and I hope Xela is somewhere in its league. I notice that Xela has a school of the Alliance Francaise. If it is like other Alliance schools, it probably has French films and activities. Both cities have service clubs, Scouting, and other groups of interest to me. Both cities have ample opportunies for volunteer work. I have met fine people in both cities. Making new friends is part of the appeal of a move. In this forum I read about expats forming clubs in Xela. I have some ideas along those lines too. I cannot speak for everyone in Antigua, but my Internet signal sucks rocks. Since the City Hall is against towers and satelite dishes, no improvement in the near future is expected. From what I hear about Xela, Claro has an excellent Internet package. --- At the moment I am in Costa Rica. I will return to Guatemala within a month and, ASAP will head for Xela for a few weeks. I am eager to check out the apartment market. PLEASE keep us advised of your progress.

Date Joined:

12/8/2013

Total Posts:

116

Posts/Day:

0.10